HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
Finland to Purchase 1 Million Landmines as Russia Continues Attacks on Ukraine
Oct 20, 2026
In Ukraine, at least four civilians are dead and 27 wounded after another night of Russian drone and missile attacks. They follow a Russian drone strike on a park in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region earlier on Monday that local officials said killed six people, including three children.
Yurii Yurchenko: “There were many children and civilians here. This strike was aimed at civilians, because, according to witnesses, the Shahed drone circled above the settlement twice before carrying out the attack.”
With tensions growing between Russia and its neighbors over the war in Ukraine, Finland’s government said Monday it would purchase 1 million anti-personnel landmines at a cost of more than $100 million. Finland withdrew from the Mine Ban Treaty in January, joined by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has called on the nations to reverse their decision, writing, “Antipersonnel mines cannot distinguish between a soldier and a civilian, and they continue to kill and maim long after conflicts end.”
Meanwhile, Russia is accused of opening a new front in its hybrid war against Ukraine, after a Russian satellite made on-orbit maneuvers and approached a Finnish-American radar satellite that’s being used by Ukraine’s military. The Russian satellite later retreated. It’s the first known case of one active spacecraft in low Earth orbit making an uninvited rendezvous with another.
Trump Lashes Out Against Zelensky: “It’s Time for Somebody Else to Negotiate on Behalf of Ukraine”
Oct 20, 2026
President Trump has continued to lash out against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, telling reporters at the White House Monday that “it’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine.”
President Donald Trump: “Zelensky is a man that should have had this war settled a long time ago. If he would have listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago, and he’d have a million people living from his side.”
Trump’s comments came ahead of today’s meeting between President Zelensky and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Norway; President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is joining the meeting remotely. Zelensky said Monday that Ukraine has nearly run out of U.S.-made Patriot missile interceptors. He offered to halt Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries for 30 days in exchange for more interceptors.
Drone Strike in Sudan Kills 80 People
Oct 20, 2026
In Sudan, a drone strike near a market in West Kordofan state on Sunday evening killed 80 people. The attack is one of the deadliest single strikes since war broke out in April 2023 when a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted. The RSF accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of carrying out Sunday’s strike. All of West Kordofan state is under RSF control.
The conflict in Sudan is the world’s largest internal displacement and hunger crisis. Over 13 million people have been forcibly displaced due to the fighting. More than two-thirds of the Sudanese population, an estimated 33.7 million people, are in need of aid.
Trump Stumps for Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, Continuing Tour of Deep Red States
Oct 20, 2026
President Trump continued his campaign tour of red states on Monday with a stop in Park City, Kansas, where he rallied support for incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall. Marshall faces a strong challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist congregation in the U.S. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in Kansas since 1932. Senator Marshall is a former longtime obstetrician-gynecologist. According to a review of court records by The New York Times, he sued more than 700 of his own patients over unpaid medical bills, leading to 81 arrests over missed court appearances. The Times’s report sparked outrage in Kansas, with one respondent to a recent poll saying, “Bro is literally robbing poor women.” On Monday, President Trump defended Marshall for suing his patients — while using an antisemitic slur.
President Donald Trump: “And he was given a bum wrap, because he was mandated by law to request, strongly, money owed from patients. You’re not allowed not to do it. You have to, by law, go after those people. And they made it like, ‘Oh, he was some kind of a Shylock-type guy.’”
The term “Shylock” originates from the main antagonist in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” — a Jewish moneylender. Trump faced widespread criticism for using the word last year, and later claimed ignorance about its origins.
CBS News Correspondent Apologizes for Partisan Post Targeting Michigan Senate Candidate El-Sayed
Oct 20, 2026
Image Credit: USA Today
CBS News’s chief legal correspondent has apologized over her social media post praising a man who heckled Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed at a recent town hall in Michigan. Jan Crawford shared video of the incident in which a man who identified himself only as Tommy asked El-Sayed whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood — a talking point of Republicans who’ve repeatedly attacked El-Sayed over his Muslim faith. Crawford called El-Sayed’s three-minute response to the question a “spectacular self own” but later deleted her post, following public outcry and internal backlash at CBS. El-Sayed’s supporters have identified the heckler as Thomas Teepell, a former staffer to Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley. This is a portion of the exchange.
Thomas Teepell: “I have one simple question: Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?”
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: “Sure. Yeah, absolutely. But I want to — I want to ask, to the question that you’re asking: Why are you asking the question?”
Thomas Teepell: “Well, because they’re a terrorist group.”
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: “OK. No, no. But what are you implying? Do you
assume that I wouldn’t?”
Thomas Teepell: “Yes.”
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: “Why not?”
Thomas Teepell: “Because I have not heard you disavow them yet.”
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: “Have you disavowed them? I haven’t heard you disavow them yet.”
Thomas Teepell: “I disavow them.”
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: “Do you? Great. But here’s the thing about it: You’re asking the question because implicitly you assume that I’ll have dual loyalties, right?”
Drop Site News: Mike Rogers’s Wife Won Lucrative Contracts While Rogers Served as Intel Chair
Oct 20, 2026
In more news from Michigan’s Senate race, Drop Site News is reporting Republican candidate Mike Rogers saw his personal wealth soar after 2011, when he was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee, largely due to his marriage to Kristi Clemens Rogers, a top executive at the British-founded private security contractor Aegis. Her firm landed contracts worth billions of dollars during Rogers’s tenure. In response to the report, Mike Rogers’s campaign sent Drop Site a cease-and-desist letter demanding a correction and retraction; Drop Site says it stands by its reporting.
Last week, Kristi Rogers drew headlines when she was spotted handing out $10 gift cards to potential voters at a Detroit gas station while wearing a Mike Rogers campaign sticker, drawing accusations of vote-buying.
Meanwhile, The Intercept reported Mike Rogers spent more than $100,000 last quarter directing campaign funds toward chartered flights, a Miami car service and BMW repairs.
Seventh Person Dies in ICE Custody in Texas
Oct 20, 2026
In Texas, Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, a 56-year-old Mexican man who was a lawful permanent resident, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo on Saturday. He’s the seventh person to die in ICE custody in Texas this year and the second in Laredo alone. His daughter, a U.S. citizen, says the family learned of his death from the county medical examiner rather than federal officials. She said her father, who had heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, was denied his medications and ignored by medical staff when he complained of chest tightness and trouble breathing. The private prison company GEO Group runs the center.
Video Shows ICE Agents in Long Beach, California Brutalizing U.S. Citizen
Oct 20, 2026
Image Credit: Instagram/@stopicenet
In California, ICE agents broke the arm of a U.S. citizen during a protest in Long Beach. Video shows Ricardo Gonzalez, identified as a former city employee, handcuffed and face-down in a gutter, with ICE officers kneeling on his back.
Ricardo Gonzalez: “Help me! Help me! My arm is f—ing broken! My arm is f—ing broken! My arm is broken! It f—ing hurts!”
Gonzalez is currently hospitalized. His family has set up a GoFundMe page to cover his medical expenses. His daughter Leslie wrote, “My Dad is one of the hardest working men out there. Because of him I have a roof over my head and I have all the opportunities around me. Our family is everything because of him. … What ICE did was not right.”
Mississippi Attorney General Rules Police Officer Justified in Fatal Shooting of Black Toddler
Oct 20, 2026
In Mississippi, the attorney general ruled Monday that a Senatobia police officer was justified in fatally shooting 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. Kohen, who was Black, was killed in June while sitting in his mother’s lap in a car in a Walmart parking lot, after police responded to a report that his mother and aunt had stolen diapers. The white police officer fired into the vehicle, critically wounding the two women. They have not been charged, and authorities have not released body-camera footage or evidence that a theft took place. Ben Crump, who represents the Wiley family, said, “This is a department whose chief was fired after reports of racial slurs in his text messages, and whose officer faced a complaint alleging a racially offensive remark two days before he shot Kohen. If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”
Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil Appeals to the Supreme Court
Oct 20, 2026
Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil asked the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to overturn a ruling that enabled the Trump administration to rearrest and deport him. Khalil is a legal U.S. permanent resident who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. He was arrested by ICE agents back in March of last year. He was then detained for 104 days at an ICE jail in Louisiana before a court ordered his release in June of last year. But in January, a federal appeals court ruled that the judge who freed Khalil from detention had no power to do so, saying his case must go through immigration court first. Khalil has not been charged with any crimes; he says he was deliberately targeted as part of a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protest. In his appeal, Khalil said the Supreme Court’s ruling would determine “whether I, and all immigrants in this country, can actually challenge this administration’s unlawful attempts to detain and deport people solely in retaliation for their First Amendment protected speech.” Click here to see our interview with Mahmoud Khalil.
Brazilian Protesters Rally Outside Meta Offices over Alleged Election Interference
Oct 20, 2026
In São Paulo, Brazil, protesters rallied outside the corporate offices of Meta on Monday, accusing the social media giant of “electoral interference” ahead of Sunday’s runoff election between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. The protest came as Brazil’s Electoral Court gave Meta 24 hours to prove that it guarantees equal treatment for the campaigns of the two candidates, as required by law. This follows widespread allegations that Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms are reducing the reach of Lula’s posts and boosting those of Bolsonaro and his supporters. Among those protesting Monday was Daniela Silva, a former Meta employee who once led efforts to shape Brazilian laws in Meta’s favor.
Daniela Silva: “I left Meta in early 2025. A very important event took place at the company at that time, because Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would roll back several of the company’s integrity policies. He also declared that he would align himself with the Donald Trump administration, which was about to take office, to ensure that countries like Brazil and other Latin American countries would stop regulating its technologies, moving in a direction that went against the company’s economic interests. And for me, this kind of intervention crossed a very important ethical line.”